them. This part of the report deserves the attention of Government; who are said to have it in contemplation to oppress dissenters with some new and humiliating restrictions: with such restrictions, as, on the event of a peace, would probably operate on Britain as the revocation of the edict of Nantes operated on France. It is said here, and let it quiet every vain alarm, that the number of real dissenters is small, and by no means increasing. They are chiefly Baptists or Independents, and a few Quakers. These behave in general with great decency, and manifest no asperity towards the clergy, or other members of the establishment.'

From that class of religionists termed Methodists, the fears of the reporters seem chiefly to arise; and their object is to recommend such measures as shall tend to diminish the number of this sect, and reclaim them to the bosom of the church. Methodists are considered in three points of view, viz. as, 1. Those who regularly attend the church service, but have other places set apart for addi tional devotion. 2. Those who do not frequent the church at all, but have regular places of worship of their own, in which the sacrament is administered. 3. Those who attend and encourage a wandering tribe of fanatical teachers; who pretend to divine impulses, and are represented as practising exorcisms, (we have no idea what this means, nor is any instance given,) and many other impostures.

Of the first of these classes, no complaint is made; and of the second, but little: it is with the third class that the reporters are most offended, and which they wish to restrain, if they cannot

repress.

When the reverend reporters take shame to themselves, for a want of proper assiduity and zeal in the discharge of the duties of their office; and recommend, as an antidote against irreligion and fanaticism, peculiar attention to their preaching and living, in order to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men; they obtain our approbation and best wishes:--but when, in addition to their own commendable efforts, they recommend the interference of the Legislature, and advise some explanations and amendments of the Toleration Act,' they exceed (in our judgment) the bounds of wisdom and sound policy. Why compliment ignorant fanatics so highly as to persecute them; especially when this severity must fall also on the body of real dissenters, who it is declared-do not deserve it? It is the severest reflection which the clergy can possibly cast on themselves, to intimate that not all their learning, zeal, and respectability of character will be equal to combat a few illiterate fanatics, unless aided by persecution. "O tell it not in Gath!"

We recommend it to these gentlemen, and to the Legislature, seriously weigh well the consequences of altering the Toleration Act. Let the clergy, who are alarmed at the inroads of Methodists, resist them with Christian zeal and meekness, and above all by the exemplariness of their conduct and conversation: but let them never disgrace their cause by soliciting the aid of the secular arm.

Art. 30. The Anti-Calvinist; or, Two plain Discoures on Redemption and Faith. By Robert Fellowes, A. B. Oxon. Author of a Picture

P 2

a Picture of Christian Philosophy, &c. &c. 8vo. IS. or on coarse Paper 6d. White. 1800.

Men have always been partial to religious quackery, and have consequently been the easy dupes of superstition and fanaticism; and till the real age of reason shall arrive, they will not be generally cured of this mental degradation. Till they can be brought to use words only as expressive of ideas, and to reject sounds when no clear sense accompanies them, they will never think with accuracy, nor be open to the convictions of rational argument. Let this, however, be once accomplished, and fanaticism must soon expire; the doctrines on which enthusiasts declaim with so much zeal will be seen to express impossibilities, or to be associations of terms with which nothing in the nature of things can possibly correspond; and the advocate for genuine Christianity will be saved the trouble of proving that what is utterly incongruous and impossible cannot be true. If the expressions of imputed guilt, or imputed righteousness, in the theological sense, be duly considered, they will be found to attempt the conveyance of an impossible idea, for they denote as great an incongruity as white Blackness, long shortness, or rotten soundness. It is like saying that a thing can be and not be at one and the same time, Virtue cannot be affirmed of vice, nor vice of virtue; nor is it possible for sin to be predicated of righteousness, or righteousness of sin. The conse quences of one person's righteousness may flow to the unrighteous, as is the case in the mediation of Christ for mankind: but there is an infinite difference between this and the imputation of righteousness-not to mention that one statement may operate as a stimulus to moral exertion, while the other may give a sort of vague notion that a man may possess an important species of righteousness even while his own character is unrighteous;-a delusion which cannot be too strenuously resisted.

We are pleased to find that Mr. Fellowes has spoken so plainly on this subject; and we could wish that his example were followed by every clergyman throughout the kingdom. In this instance, they ought to pursue a fearless conduct; and, despising the censure of heterodoxy which the vulgar and bigoted may cast on them, resolve to give senseless fanaticism no quarter. The mischiefs which it has already effected, especially among the lower classes, are so very considerable, that it should be every where opposed without farther loss of time. Perhaps the only effectual mode of combating it is by shewing repeatedly, till the conviction is felt and impressed on the mind, that its favourite doctrines consist in an abuse of words neither justified by reason nor tolerated by scripture. If some, from whom better things might have been expected, have enlisted themselves under its banners, let us not from this circumstance regard it as intitled to any extraordinary indulgence, but let us rather be stimulated to a more firm and undisguised opposition. Were clergymen in the establishment, and the liberally educated among dissenters, to persevere in preaching like Mr. Fellowes, their flocks would be furnished with an answer to the modern cant which is continually ringing in their cars.

If

If Christ's righteousness (says Mr. F.) were, as some fondly dream, actually imputed to us, or if his redemption had delivered us from the penalty of sin, without the performance of any good works on our part, then his numerous exhortations to moral goodness, and his solemn injunctions to us to keep the commandments would have been vain and useless. For, why should he have proposed laws for our obedience, if he had known that such obedience were unnecessary; or if his celestial virtues were imputed to us for righteousness?—If any other person pay my debts for me, he certainly releases me from the obligation. Or if any individual can be just for me, he takes upon himself the penalty of my injustice. If Christ have satisfied, by the virtue of his sufferings on the cross, all our moral obligations, if his obedience have superseded their necessity, then they are no longer necessary on our parts. If he, as our redeemer, have trans. ferred his righteousness to us, then we may sin at our pleasure. For where can be the necessity of taking the pains to acquire habits of righteousness ourselves, if another have been righteous in our stead? Thus you see, into what flagrant enormites, into what crimes and impieties we might easily be led, if we once adopted the notion-that Christ's righteousness is imputed to us, or that the effusion of his blood upon the cross hath annulled the necessity of moral observances.'

Many plain and popular arguments, levelled to the lowest capacities, remain to be urged against this doctrine. We recommend the perusal of Mr. F.'s short anti-calvinistical sermons; and we would urge him to persevere in the same strain.-Though we have already extended this article beyond its due proportion, considering the size of the work to which it relates, we must add to it by subjoining a passage from Mr. F.'s preface.

Pure, sincere, rational, moral and benevolent Christianity I love more than any thing else. It is the constant object of my thoughts; and it has been my solace in many hours when consolation from any other source would have been sought in vain. But I dislike cant, and all the gangrened sperm and abortions of hypocrisy, to whatever purpose they may be applied; and I dislike them most of all when they are employed to tarnish the divine beauty of religion. Religious cant is, of all the objects of detestation, the most detestable: and I am sorry to have occasion to remark, that a miserable, whining, driveling cant, about the mere shadows, the forms, and as it were the excrescences of religion, to the neglect of its weightier matters, and to the destruction of the rationality, the dignity and magnanimity of its character, hath been too much practised by several writers of the present day, from whom better things might have been expected. The fumes of fanaticism seem to have been exhaled and to be exhaling from those in low to those in high places; from the many in that humble region where ignorance dwells and credulity prevails, to some few in the loftier conditions of life, whose minds enlightened by knowledge, and whose hearts expanded by benevolence, ought to have been inaccess sible to the cold unsocial spirit of that fanatic fiend, whose very touch hardens the feelings, and prevents the right use of the understanding.' This passage requires no comment from us, P 3

Art.

Art. 31. Three Discourses on the Lord's Supper. By S. Parker. Small 8vo. Is. Johnson. 1799.

The first of these discourses considers the design of the sacred institution of the Lord's Supper, with the advantages to be derived from its observance; the second is intended to prove the perpetuity of the ordinance; and the third, to answer objections which may prevent Christians from attending it.

The writer appears to be a fair and candid inquirer, searching for truth, and embracing it with sincerity. His language is generally correct, yet unadorned and simple: but his creed is not that which is usually styled orthodox. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper,' he remarks, is certainly of divine origin, and it is a subject which appears to me to merit more attention from Christians than is generally paid to it. It is an institution which has been most shamefully abused, and culpably neglected.-What a pity is it that they do not observe the simple rules of the gospel, instead of intermixing the base alloy of superstition with the pure gold of heavenly truth! Till Christians try their sentiments and customs by the words and examples of Christ and the apostles, which are the sure touchstone of truth and error, we must expect those things to prevail, which will conceal the beauty of genuine Christianity; and among those things which will have this tendency, is that neglect of the Lord's Supper with which the generality of professing Christians are chargeable.'

MEDICAL, &c.

Art. 32. Medical Cases and Remarks. Part I. on the good Effects of Salivation, in Jaundice arising from Calculi. Part II. on the free Use of Nitre in Hemorrhagy. By Thomas Gibbons, M. D. 8vo. pp. 108. 38. Boards. Murray, &c. 1799.

This small tract is the production of a physician who has retired from practice; and it may be considered, in some degree, as a legacy to those who, are now bearing the burden and hear of the day. We should be extremely glad to pass so generous a bequest through our office free of taxation: but the supremne dictates of truth forbid it. We shall, however, treat this very candid and (we dare say) very worthy author as gently as possible. The severity of practice recommended by him, (as we conceive) without sufficient foundation, is the sole occasion of the following strictures.

As Dr. Gibbons professes to have succeeded, by his peculiar method, in cases of jaundice occasioned by gall-stones, we expected to have seen absolute proof of the existence of calculi in the majority of instances which he has related: but we find that, out of all the cases here stated, calculi were passed only in one; in the others, the cause was only conjectured from the symptoms. We need not point out to our experienced readers, the fallacy of this mode of proof. Dr. G. supposes that the mercury had dissolved the gall-stones: but whoever has seen this remedy used, in real cases of jaundice arising from gall-stones, must know that the calculi will be passed during the course undissolved, and that the disease will often resist the most powerful action of mercury. Calomel certainly possesses a rẹmarkable power-over some morbid conditions of the liver, such as we apprehend

apprehend had existed in Dr. Gibbons's patients: but it does not appear to exert any particular action on biliary concretions.

It is with regret that we reinark some inaccuracy also in the cases relating to the use of nitre in hemorrhage. The doses given were indeed uncommonly large, and such as few stomachs would bear. The mixture of medicines, in the first case related, must have produced strange elective attractions in the stomach.

K. Cerus. acetat. gr. iij.
Alum. pulv. gr. v.

Opii gr. j.

Cons. cynosb. q. s. f. bolus statim sumendus, et post horas

R. Kali pp. 3j.
Succ. limon. 3ij.
Aquæ distill. 3vj.

Syr. limon. fs.

quinque repetendus.

Nitri pulv. 3ij. M. cap. coch. IV. subinde.

In addition to this course, the patient took Ruspini's styptic, by the consent of Dr. G. Perhaps the Chevalier may claim the merit of the cure, though the patient was swallowing the great quantity of a drachm of nitre every two hours.

The publication is closed by a letter from Dr. Drake to Dr. Gibbons, containing some additional facts in support of the power of nitre, largely given, in suppressing hemorrhage. We are surprized to observe that, in this letter, dated 1799, Dr. Drake only hints at the possibility of deriving advantage from the digitalis in such cases. He recommends, also, the exhibition of fox-glove in nauseating doses, which is surely very hazardous practice.

It is far from our intention to convey the slightest censure on the practice employed in the cases here laid before the public, and which appears to have been justified by its success:-but we must caution the young practitioner against the rough use of mercury in similar complaints, on the theory supported by Dr. Gibbons, because we think that his proofs are not conclusive. Other methods, such as warmbathing, opiates, and external stimulants, are frequently required, in addition to the most successful internal medicines.

Art. 33. Medical Remarks on Tea, Coffee, Tobacco, and Snuff; likewise Beer, Ales, Wines, and Spirituous Liquors, also Observations on Intoxication; with an Appendix, containing Directions for preserving Health and attaining long Life. The whole collected from the best Authorities. By E. Taylor. 8vo. pp. 39. 9d. Printed at Huddersfield. 1799.

Addison tells us, in the Spectator, that there are jests which are only passable in a certain part of the town, or in particular situations as over a bottle, or when the wind is in the north-east. The pamphlet before us, we presume, is one of these indigenous productions: it may be very useful at Huddersfield, and may extend its influence to some of the sheep-cotes and farms in the neighbourhood: